sports and diving

[SubQ]

Someone recently told me that going to the gym after diving is not the best idea in the world... something to do with carbondioxide? But since diving is one of the few sports in the world I think that are actually fattening, post diving beers and stuff I would like to keep up my fitness programme, so, what's the verdict?

 

[Lost Yooper]

Well, you certainly don't want to injure yourself with free weights or other things, but good physical fitness is paramount to good offgassing. Based on what I have read, swimming is the preferred workout for divers.

Mie

 

[Rick Murchison]

There is an increased risk of DCS with vigorous exercise soon after diving.
See http://www.scuba-doc.com/exerdcs.html
Rick

 

[DocVikingo]

Hi SubQ,

This topic has been discussed several times in various sections of the board, including "Ask DrDeco." You may wish to use the board's "Search" function to review those threads.

Here is an example of a good one http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?threadid=1554

IMHO, a regular, and sensible, personal fitness program is a smart pursuit for those who want to increase their wellness quotient and feel better mentally & physically. I follow a vigorous one. The importance of physical fitness to scuba is emphasized by many training agencies & dive medicine experts.

However, the prudent approach is to skip work outs involving heavy lifting & other strenuous activity on the days you are diving.

Best regards.

DocVikingo

 

[scubadoc]

Dr. Deco has done some rather elegant studies that have shown an increase in bubbling associated with exercise immediately post decrease in pressure.(Ascending from a dive or ascending to altitude). http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1554&highlight=exercise+and+DCS

Imbibing alcohol (beer) in the peri-dive time frame is also dangerous from the standpoint of altering reaction times and clouding the sensorium. The effects of a few beers have been shown to cloud the sensorium long after one would ordinarily think that the alcohol has been metabolized, the obtunding effects of alcohol have been shown to be detrimental to the diver if imbibed as much as twelve hours prior to the dives. It has also been shown that it increases the risks of DCS by causing diuresis and dehydration.

A study by Perrine, Mundt and Weiner found (scuba) diving performances significantly degraded at blood alcohol levels of 40 mg/dl (04%BAC). They also cite a clear increase in the risk of injury at this level which can be reached by a 180 lb. man who ingests two 12 oz. beers in 1 hour on an empty stomach. This very pertinent study once again points out that there is a diminished awareness of cues and reduced inhibitions at relatively low levels of blood alcohol. Their study used well trained divers who were being paid to do their best as their diving performances were being videotaped.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=7990461&dopt=Abstract

Dr. Glen Egstrom, PhD has stated the problem succinctly: He made personal review of over 150 studies on the effects of alcohol on performance has resulted in the following observations:

1. Ingestion of even small amounts of alcohol does not improve performance: to the contrary it degrades performance

2. While there are variables that can speed up or delay the onset of the effects of alcohol, they are minor issues which do not overcome the decrements to the central and peripheral nervous system.

3. Alcohol can be cleared from the blood at a predictable rate. Generally on the order of .015% BAC per hour. This does not necessarily mean that the decrements in performance have been completely eliminated in that time.

4. Alcohol is a depressant drug that slows certain body functions by depressing the entire central nervous system. Effects are noticeable after one drink.

5. The effects are mood elevation, mild euphoria, a sense of well being, slight dizziness and some impairment of judgment, self control, inhibitions and memory.

6. Increases in reaction time and decreases in coordination follow the dose/response curve quite well.

7. Alcohol is involved in 50% +/- of all accidents involving persons of drinking age.

8. The deleterious effects of alcohol on performance are consistently underestimated by persons who have been drinking alcohol.

9. Divided attention tasks are found to be affected by alcohol to a greater degree than those tasks with single focus of concentration, i.e. a task such as a head-first dive into shallow water, with many interrelated decisions necessary to a successful dive, will be impacted to a greater degree than lifting a heavy weight.
http://www.jellis.com/news/96news/may96/alcohol.htm

For more information see our article at http://www.scuba-doc.com/alch.htm

Best regards for safe diving!
scubadoc
Diving Medicine Online
http://www.scuba-doc.com/

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[SubQ]

thanks,
That thread you pointed out to me was very helpfull, docvikingo.

 

[SubQ]

I promise not to mention "beer" in the vicinity of "dive" again scubadoc...so sorry.

But seriously, I am familiar with some of the studies on the effects of alcohol on task performance, and these are staggering under standardized conditions. I real life situations people are able, up to a point, to maintain accuracy of control by slowing down and the effects are not noticable by casual observers.
This slowing down is obviously dangerous in conditions that require rapid judgement and motorresponse. So these effects of alcohol show up in reaction time experiments, and are much greater than estimated by the aforementioned casual observer.